Michael Jackson_ The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story, 1958-2009 Part 30

Michael Jackson_ The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story, 1958-2009 Part 30

On the day they were to leave, Evan Chandler came by the Schwartz house to say goodbye to his son. Though he still had not met Michael Jackson, he had no choice but to trust that June knew what she was doing when she agreed to the trip. Disturbingly, though, Evan noticed that Jordie now seemed oddly cold towards him. Evan would later remember feeling that his son had changed, that he no longer seemed to care about his father. As Jordie climbed into the limousine with June and Lily, Evan stood at the curb and watched them chatter among themselves and, as he recalled it, felt left out of the proceedings. Later, he would say, 'I felt then that maybe June should just divorce Dave, since they were having problems, and maybe hook with up Michael. After all, they were having a good time, even if I had some reservations about it. Maybe I was wrong, I reasoned. Maybe I was wrong.'

In Monaco, Michael was often photographed with June, Jordie and Lily. In several pictures, he is seen holding Lily in his arms while walking next to June. Jordie, in a red shirt and large, oversized hat that clearly belonged to Michael, walked ahead of them. During the show, Michael sat next to Prince Albert, with Jordie in his lap.

On Sunday 16 May Michael and his guests returned from Europe. While browsing in the airport's gift shop, they found a feature story in the National Enquirer National Enquirer tabloid about 'Michael's new, adopted family'. Along with the article were photographs of Michael with Jordie at Disneyworld. 'Oh, no, don't believe that stuff,' Michael told his friends, even though the article was obviously true. 'The stuff they wrote about me is all lies.' tabloid about 'Michael's new, adopted family'. Along with the article were photographs of Michael with Jordie at Disneyworld. 'Oh, no, don't believe that stuff,' Michael told his friends, even though the article was obviously true. 'The stuff they wrote about me is all lies.'

Unbeknownst to Michael, Evan Chandler had also seen the article. He worried that such publicity might set Jordie up as a target for kidnappers and, in his opinion, the situation between his son and a man he had never met Michael Jackson was out of control. Evan had a tense telephone conversation with June about the situation; he also telephoned Dave Schwartz to tell him how he felt about the article, which resulted in a loud argument between the two men.

Though Dave had been on his estranged wife's side, his position changed after the article came out, and his friends began calling to express sympathy that he had lost his family to Michael Jackson. He demanded that June break off her friendship with Michael. She refused, saying that Michael had been kind to her and the children and that for him to try to interfere at this point was 'just plain selfish'.




Afterwards June told Michael Jackson about the many emotional and argumentative conversations relating to him and Jordie which had taken place in just a few hours. Concerned, Michael felt that what had transpired was typical of the behaviour of adults. 'See, grown-ups don't trust each other, and that's the real problem here,' he told June. 'It's such a shame that this kind of thing happens, isn't it?'

During the first weekend of June 1993, Jordie Chandler was entertaining Michael Jackson at his home when his father, Evan, stopped by for a surprise visit. Michael and Jordie were playing in Jordie's bedroom when Evan entered the room. Shy about meeting Evan, as he is about meeting most people for the first time, Michael ducked into a corner.

Evan walked around the room with his mouth agape, unaware that Michael was in the shadows. 'My G.o.d, look at all this stuff, Jordie,' Evan said, astonished by the sight of so many thousands of dollars' worth of compact discs, videos, Nintendo cartridges and toys, many of them still in boxes. 'Where'd you get all of this stuff from?' he asked.

Just as Evan asked the question he caught a glimpse of movement in the corner. It was Michael. Evan's first impression of Michael was that he was an odd person. Michael had on full makeup, including red lipstick and black eye-liner. He had on his black hat; a band-aid on his nose. He was chewing gum. 'h.e.l.lo, Mr Chandler,' he said, his voice a delicate whisper. Michael extended his hand. When Evan shook it, as he later remembered, it was a weak, limp handshake.

At that moment, Evan's five-year-old son, Nikki, from his second marriage, ran into the room. 'Wow. Michael Jackson,' exclaimed the youngster. Within moments, Nikki was on the floor with Michael playing with action figures and wrestling with him, as Evan and Jordie looked on. Later, all four went into the backyard to play with slingshots. Maddeningly, Michael kept touching his nose, every few minutes. No one knew why; no one asked. By the time he left the house, Evan was completely taken with Michael. He had been kind and considerate to the children, funny and 'completely normal acting', as Evan later recalled it.

A few days later, Michael felt comfortable enough with Evan to invite him to the hide-out. He suggested that Evan bring Nikki. When father and son arrived, they found Jordie and Michael waiting for them. Michael then presented Nikki with an a.s.sortment of toys, and Evan with a Carrier time-piece. Later, as the boys played, Michael told Evan that he hoped to be able to take Jordie with him on the second leg of his Dangerous tour, which would begin on 24 August 1993 at the National Stadium in Thailand, Bangkok. He felt that Jordie might obtain a unique education on the road with him in countries such as Taiwan, j.a.pan, Russia, Israel and Turkey and Mexico. Michael hoped that Evan would think of his offer as a rare opportunity for Jordie, and perhaps discuss the matter with June.

Evan would later recall again feeling uneasy about Michael. He had to ask the question: 'Michael, what exactly is the nature of your relationship with Jordie?'

'Well, I don't know what to say,' Michael responded, 'except that it's... it's...' He seemed to search for the right word. 'It's cosmic,' he finally said.

Evan got to the point. 'Look, are you having s.e.x with my son?' he asked. One would think such a question would be asked by Evan while his hands were wrapped around Michael's throat, but Evan recalled his demeanour as having been calm and collected.

Michael was shocked. He couldn't believe Evan would ask him such a question, and in such a straightforward a way. 'My G.o.d, I can't believe you would ask me that,' he said.

The two men stared at each other for a few moments, apparently not knowing what to say. Evan decided not to push the issue. Instead, he asked, 'What if you don't want to be friends with my son in the future? He'll be so hurt.'

'Not want to be friends with Jordie?' Michael asked 'But that'll never happen. No one is more loyal than me. I will always be Jordie's friend.'

An awkward silence hung between the two men. Finally, Evan suggested that he and Michael join the youngsters in Michael's arcade.

At this point, as Evan Chandler later recalled it, he truly did not know whether to approve of Michael or not. He vacillated between feeling exhilaration and uneasiness. After all, Michael didn't really deny that anything inappropriate was going on, nor did he admit it.

In a few days' time, Evan was again awe-struck by Michael's presence in Jordie's life, enough to suggest that Michael even spend more time with him. The suggestion came when Michael showed up at Nikki's birthday party on 22 May 1993, astonishing all of the guests who couldn't fathom that the the Michael Jackson was playing with their children at a friend's birthday party. 'Who wouldn't want his kid to be Michael Jackson's pal,' Evan said at the time. He even suggested that Michael build a new wing on to the home so that he wouldn't have to make the trek from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles just to visit Jordie. 'You can just stay here,' he offered, 'but you'd be more comfortable building an addition to the house, I think.' Michael Jackson was playing with their children at a friend's birthday party. 'Who wouldn't want his kid to be Michael Jackson's pal,' Evan said at the time. He even suggested that Michael build a new wing on to the home so that he wouldn't have to make the trek from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles just to visit Jordie. 'You can just stay here,' he offered, 'but you'd be more comfortable building an addition to the house, I think.'

Michael took the offer seriously enough to have his representatives check with the zoning division of the county in which Evan lived to determine if it would be possible to build such an addition to the house.

That night, Michael stayed at Evan's home, sleeping in the same room with Jordie and Nikki. After the two boys watched a video of Peter Pan Peter Pan with Michael, Evan bid them good night and closed the bedroom door. The last thing he saw was Michael Jackson tucked into a roll-out bed, and his two sons in bunk beds Jordie in the bottom bed and Nikki in the top. Those would remain the sleeping arrangements at Evan's home for the next two nights. with Michael, Evan bid them good night and closed the bedroom door. The last thing he saw was Michael Jackson tucked into a roll-out bed, and his two sons in bunk beds Jordie in the bottom bed and Nikki in the top. Those would remain the sleeping arrangements at Evan's home for the next two nights.

What a strange scene: Michael Jackson, arguably the wealthiest and most accomplished entertainer in show business curled up in an uncomfortable, roll-out bed while sleeping in a room with two youngsters.

Didn't he have any responsibilities? It was as if the person in Jordie's room had no plans for the future, certainly no recording dates or concert commitments.

Wasn't he known to rub shoulders with movies stars, magnates and members of royal families such as Diana, Princess of Wales? Why did he never mention them? Where was his family? Why did he never speak about them? He never once mentioned his brothers, or the names of any of his siblings.

And wasn't he supposed to be wealthy? According to Forbes Forbes, he had earned fifty-five million dollars the year before. Why then did he dress only in old jeans and T-shirts? Why did he wear the same black loafers every day? When, on occasion, he did refer to his wealth, it seemed incongruous. For instance, Evan once watched Michael and Jordie shoot water pistols at tomatoes lined up on a ledge. Michael told the youngster, 'I'm thinking about buying my own private jet.' Jordie shrugged. Then, Michael said, 'You know what? I'll bet if I stand back three more feet I can still hit that tomato right over there.'

If anyone had told Evan that the person sleeping in his son's bedroom was actually a Michael Jackson impersonator, he would have believed it that's how little the life of the man on the roll-out bed seemed to have with the genuine-article King of Pop.

Over the next couple of days, Evan and Michael forged ahead with their own friendship. They discussed family matters as well as Jordie and Nikki's education. Michael mentioned that Jordie had often described Evan as a terrific father, and Michael noted his own admiration of Evan's dedication to his children. They also discussed Dave Schwartz, and his displeasure over the National Enquirer's National Enquirer's a.s.sertion that Michael had 'stolen' his family. Evan said he had to agree with Dave that the story was 'in bad form'. Michael explained that he had learned to live with sensational articles about himself and his friends, and he hoped Evan would not hold this one against him. Evan said he liked Michael very much and would happily allow him to continue to be friendly with Jordie and Nikki. a.s.sertion that Michael had 'stolen' his family. Evan said he had to agree with Dave that the story was 'in bad form'. Michael explained that he had learned to live with sensational articles about himself and his friends, and he hoped Evan would not hold this one against him. Evan said he liked Michael very much and would happily allow him to continue to be friendly with Jordie and Nikki.

The two men shook hands and agreed to keep open the lines of communication between them.

In days to come, however, Evan had more time to think about Michael's a.n.a.lysis of his relationship with Jordie as being 'cosmic' and the fact that he had been so curiously reticent to characterize their relationship in specific terms. Michael hadn't been responsive to the direct, albeit disconcerting, question of whether or not he was having s.e.x with Jordie. Rather, Michael just seemed embarra.s.sed by it. Evan, as he would later tell it, began to experience a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Small incidents over the next few days made a bigger impact on him.

For instance, there was the evening the family was together watching television with Michael when Michael seemed unable to take his eyes off Jordie. When Evan asked Michael if something was wrong, Michael said, 'No, I'm just looking at things.' However, when Jordie rose to go into the kitchen to fetch a snack, Michael followed. When Jordie went outside to speak to a visiting friend, Michael followed. Finally, when Jordie got up to go to the bathroom and Michael also rose, Jordie said, 'Michael, I'm just going to the bathroom. You can stay here.' Embarra.s.sed, Michael laughed and said, 'Oh, okay. That's fine.'

Evan understood that teenagers have all manner of relationships with non-family members and that those with peers can sometimes have a greater influence on their values and behaviour. However, was Michael a peer? Not really. Also, his influence on Jordie was troubling because there were so many unanswered questions about it. Why did Michael and Jordie have so many inside jokes between them, as if sharing their own language? Why were they always whispering to one another? Why would they speak softly to one another and then, as soon as they would hear one of Jordie's parents enter the room, clam up? Why was Jordie beginning to dress like Michael, with black hats and mirrored sungla.s.ses? Most importantly, why were they sleeping in the same room?

Over the next few weeks, Evan continued to press Michael about the nature of his relationship with Jordie, so much so that Michael began to distance himself from Evan rather than have to undergo any further interrogation. Michael seemed to not understand why Evan was confused about what was going on between him and Jordie. Hadn't he already explained that he was Jordie's true, loyal friend? Didn't they have an agreement to forge ahead with Michael as an accepted part of the family? Again, as Michael had earlier told June, Evan either trusted him or he didn't. The problem was that Michael was unprepared for what might occur if Evan did not trust him. Would he abandon his friendship with Jordie because the boy's father did not trust him? No.

When Michael was unhappy with a person, that person was usually ousted from his world. Many important people had shown up in his life and then been banished from it over the years. Some of them, like John Branca, had considered themselves long-time friends of Michael's, but such status did not save them from being terminated. If Michael could let go of John after more than ten years, where then did Evan Chandler stand after just a few weeks? Michael stopped returning Evan's telephone calls when Evan became a problem in his life. If he could have fired him, or had someone else do the job, he would have done it.

However, Michael had seriously underestimated Evan. He wasn't an employee who could be easily dismissed. Rather, he was the father of the boy upon whom Michael had fixated, for whatever reason. He wasn't about to allow Michael to cut him out of his life, and out of his friendship with Jordie, especially since he wasn't sure he even trusted him. There was something not right about Michael's friendship with Jordie, he decided, and he was going to set it straight if, for no other reason, than to prove to Michael Jackson that he couldn't get away with it.

Dirty Minds.

In June 1993, Jordie Chandler was scheduled to graduate from junior high school's seventh grade. For months, he had antic.i.p.ated the students' party that would commemorate the milestone for them. Though Jordie had always been a popular student and had many friends, lately he seemed not to be in communication with many of them. He had become so antisocial since meeting Michael Jackson, his parents were concerned. However, the fact that he was still enthusiastic about going to the end-of-the-year dance did suggest to Evan and June that their son was still a normal teenager.

However, when Jordie walked into his mother's bedroom to announce that he had decided not to attend the school function and wanted, instead, to spend the evening with Michael Jackson, she was worried. He had more fun with Michael than he did with his school chums, he told June, and if he could have it his way he would just as soon be with Michael. June, according to her later recollection, tried to convince Jordie that he should not abandon friends his own age for Michael. It was possible, she told him, to cultivate relationships with his school friends as well as with Michael. 'You don't have to choose one over the other,' she said. However, Jordie didn't see it that way; as far as he was concerned, his fellow students didn't understand him the way Michael did and, worse, he said, they were unkind to others because they had been 'conditioned' to hate, just like adults. June was at a loss. Hearing her son parrot Michael's philosophy was disconcerting. 'You'd better talk to your dad about it,' she suggested.

Evan Chandler's position about Jordie's decision was absolute. 'Over my dead body,' he told him, angrily. 'You can not spend all of your time with Michael Jackson. I won't allow it. Enough is enough.'

'Well, you can't stop me,' Jordie said, defiantly. 'I'll do what I want to do.'

Evan, as he would later recall it, had begun to think that Michael was gay and that perhaps Jordie might be, as well. There was no other explanation, he thought, to such obsession. Whatever was going on, though, he felt that he needed to reconnect with his son. If the two could better communicate, he might then be able to figure out the problem. 'I'm sick about all of this,' he told Jordie. 'We love you so much. Why have you turned your back on us? You can have Michael in your life,' he concluded, 'but you can also have us, and everyone else.'

When Evan went to embrace his son, Jordie was stiff and unaffectionate. Jordie didn't want to hear what Evan had to say and didn't want to engage with him on any level. Evan would later say that he felt then that he was losing his son to another man, and that he became more determined than ever to stop that from happening. He had no recourse but to lay down the law: 'You're going to that d.a.m.n dance, Jordie. You are not spending the night with Michael Jackson.'

'No, I'm not,' said the youngster. 'You never liked Michael,' he said, as he stormed off. 'You acted acted like you did. Michael told me that's what was going on, and he was right.' like you did. Michael told me that's what was going on, and he was right.'

In the end, Jordie did not attend the school dance. He spent the night with Michael.

Though Michael Jackson may not have intended to do so, his presence in Jordie's life had caused a terrible turmoil for the youngster, as well as for his parents, Evan and June, and even his stepfather, Dave Schwartz. The emergence of Michael into their lives had thrown everything into wild disarray, pitting the three adults against one another, and then Jordie against all of them, resulting in distrust and frustration for all. Without effective communication, it was inevitable that there would continue to be serious problems at home for Jordie.

Was Michael aware of his part in what was happening to Jordie's family? One of his advisers recalls a conversation with him about Jordie, which took place while the two were sitting in a golf cart on the Neverland acreage, star-gazing. 'You know, maybe you should just leave Jordie alone,' suggested Michael's adviser.

'Nope,' Michael said succinctly, recalled his adviser.

'Why?'

'What can I say?' Michael asked. His expression was serene as he stared into the infinite s.p.a.ce.

'But look at all of the chaos your friendship with him is causing Jordie,' observed the adviser. 'Don't you think you should back off?' the adviser asked, still pushing.

Michael became angry; he could go from calm to fury in seconds. 'Look, I'm not the one causing problems,' he said. 'It's Jordie's parents. They can't accept that my relationship with him is innocent. They have dirty minds. There is nothing s.e.xual going on. Why can't people just get that?'

'But, Mike...'

Michael rose and walked away before the conversation could be finished.

If what those who know him best say is true, that Michael is a child at heart, there's definitely a flip side to such immaturity: he acts like a spoiled little kid when he can't have his way. He is often unable to see any point of view other than his own.

On 7 July 1993 Evan Chandler struck a damaging blow to Michael's friendship with Jordie and also, as it would happen, to his own relationship with his ex-wife, June, when he filed for a modification of her custody agreement. The doc.u.ments pet.i.tioned the courts to forbid Jordie from going anywhere near Michael, and from visiting him at any of his homes, or anywhere else. Evan requested that Jordie receive psychiatric help to determine the full extent of Michael's influence on him. He also accused June of 'nurturing' the relationship between Jordie and Michael, which he viewed as unhealthy, 'because, according to what I know, she [June] receives expensive gifts, cash and vacations from Jackson'.

In the affidavit, Evan declared that he had discovered that Michael 'routinely spent the night with my son and they slept in the same bed. I then asked him directly if he was having s.e.x with my son. Jackson refused to give me a straight answer. He rather told me that he would continue sleeping with my son and that he thought it was "cosmic" and that he and Jordie were made to be together.'

Michael was hurt and, of course, angry. He was also still unwilling to consider the option of sacrificing his own wants and needs in order to allow Jordie some s.p.a.ce to reconnect with his parents. Rather, he viewed the adults in Jordie's life as validation of his personal philosophy that grown-ups cannot be trusted, are certain to act in irrational ways and can be counted on to sink to the lowest, most base behaviour. If Evan had Jordie's best interest at heart, Michael reasoned, surely he would allow such a loving friendship to continue without questioning it and a.s.suming the worst about it. Plus, the heart wants what it wants and Michael Jackson wanted to be with Jordie Chandler.

The Secret Tape Recording.

Now that Evan Chandler had filed such damaging court papers against June, there was no way she could trust him. June's estranged husband, Dave, agreed with her that Evan was a threat. Would he take his claims against June further by claiming that she had been an unfit parent by allowing Jordie's relationship with Michael to continue? Would he try to obtain complete custody of Jordie?

On 2 July 1993, Evan and Dave met at Rent-A-Wreck to discuss what was going on in the family. During the meeting, Evan made it clear that he wanted Michael's reign over Jordie's life to come to an end, and that he was about to start taking action to see to it that it happened. He asked for Dave's a.s.sistance. However, Dave made it clear that he did not agree with Evan and did not wish to interfere with Jordie's relationship with Michael. June had been monitoring the situation, he said, and he wasn't going to second-guess her. If he did so, he argued, he would risk a deeper wedge in his marriage to her, and he would probably alienate Jordie, as well.

Over the next week, Evan continued to be a problem. Michael, June and Jordie did not trust him and wanted as little to do with him as possible. They had not returned his telephone calls; it had been almost a month since Evan spoke to Jordie. Now, Evan was pushing for a meeting with the three of them. He knew that June and Jordie intended to accompany Michael on his upcoming tour, and that they would be gone for five months. He didn't want them to go, felt it was unsafe for Jordie. He called June and left a message on her answering machine during which he insisted that she, Jordie and Michael meet with him on 9 July.

Dave called Evan to ask him what it was he hoped to accomplish by demanding such a meeting. 'You're not going to get anywhere that way,' he told him.

'Listen, you dumb a.s.s,' Evan told him. 'I'm worried about my kid. I want him with me, now. I don't know what's going on with you people and Michael Jackson, but I don't like it.'

The two men then argued for about an hour, hurling insults at one another.

Perhaps in order to learn what Evan had in mind, Dave decided to secretly tape-record a telephone conversation with him. An hour after their argument, he called Evan, again.

During that 8 July conversation, transcripts of which were later filed with the Los Angeles County Court House, Evan said that he was angry because Michael had stopped telephoning him and no longer wanted a friendly relationship with him. 'There was no reason why he had to stop calling me,' Evan told Dave. He added that he'd recently had a long conversation with Michael and told him 'exactly what I want out of the relationship with him.' (He didn't say during the conversation with Dave, however, what it was he wanted from Michael.) He also maintained that, in his view, Michael was spending too much time with Jordie, and that something was 'not right about it'. He was furious with June, he said, who had told him to 'f.u.c.k' himself, when he tried to discuss Michael with her. When pressed, Evan said that he believed Michael Jackson had 'broken up the family' and that Jordie had been 'seduced by this guy's money and power'. He didn't say, during the conversation, that he suspected Michael might also be having s.e.x with Jordie. However, he did allow that he had hired an attorney to start looking into the matter, his friend, Barry Rothman.

As it happened, Barry had been in Evan's dental chair one day for work when Evan began to confide in him about certain changes in Jordie's personality. He became so emotional when recounting recent events, he began to cry. There was a wall between him and his son, he told the attorney, and he simply didn't know how to scale it, or tear it down. He was losing Jordie, he said. As the two discussed the matter, Barry recalls Evan saying that he had begun to believe that Michael and Jordie's relationship may have become s.e.xual. If that was the case, Barry Rothman suggested, perhaps Evan might need an attorney. They agreed to trade services, dental for legal.

'I picked the nastiest son of a b.i.t.c.h I could find,' Evan told Dave, speaking of Barry Rothman who had, in the past represented Little Richard, the Who, the Rolling Stones and Ozzy Osbourne. 'All he wants to do is get this out in the public as fast as he can, as big as he can, and humiliate as many people as he can,' Evan continued. 'He's nasty, he's mean, he's smart, and he's hungry for publicity. Everything's going according to a certain plan that isn't just mine. Once I make that phone call, this guy [Barry Rothman] is going to destroy everybody in sight in any devious, nasty, cruel way that he can do it. I've given him full authority to do that.

'Jackson is an evil guy,' Evan continued, sounding fired up. 'He is worse than that, and I have the evidence to prove it. If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want, and they will be destroyed forever. June will lose [custody of the son] and Michael's career will be over.'

Evan and Dave then discussed June's plans to take Jordie on Michael's Dangerous tour in the fall. 'Well, they may think so,' Evan said, 'but they're not going anywhere.'

Clearly baiting him for more information, Dave asked Evan how his plan might help Jordie. Evan's response was disconcerting. 'That's irrelevant to me,' he said. 'The bottom line is, yes, his mother is harming him, and Michael is harming him. I can prove that, and I will prove that. It cost me tens of thousands of dollars to get the information I got, and you know I don't have that kind of money. I'm willing to go down financially. It will be a ma.s.sacre if I don't get what I want. It's going to be bigger than all of us put together.

'I believe Jordie is already irreparably harmed,' Evan continued. 'The whole thing is going to crash down on everybody and destroy everybody in sight. This man is going to be humiliated beyond belief,' Evan concluded. 'You will not believe what's going to happen to him. Beyond his worst nightmares. He will not sell one more record. The facts are so overwhelming, everyone will be destroyed in the process.'

Did Evan Chandler know he was being tape-recorded? Did he also suspect the recording might one day be played for Michael Jackson? Was he being melodramatic and intimidating just for the sake of scaring Michael off? Or, did he really plan to ruin him? Only he knows what was in his head at this time... and he hasn't said.

The day after Evan Chandler's inflammatory comments about Michael Jackson were tape-recorded by Dave Schwartz, Evan hoped to have the family conference he had long sought to discuss Jordie. However, no one showed up at the meeting. Now, he was more infuriated than ever. Finally, he got June on the telephone. According to June's former attorney, Michael Freeman, Evan reiterated his concerns that something improper might be going on between Jordie and Michael. June said that Evan was 'full of baloney'. Moreover, she told him that she and Jordie still intended to go on tour with Michael, and that Evan would 'just have to get used to the idea'.

Michael Freeman recalled, 'Evan then said that he was going to go to the media. Right away, we thought, Why would he do that? If he really believed Jordie was being abused, why would he not go to the police instead of the press?'

That same day, June and Dave decided to meet with Michael to tell him there might be trouble ahead where Evan was concerned. However, Michael didn't take them seriously. 'Oh, this kind of stuff happens to me all the time,' he told them. 'People are always trying to get money out of me. I'll have my people work it out. Don't worry about it.' However, when they played Michael the tape Dave had made of his conversation with Evan, Michael became anxious. 'He sounded so angry,' Michael told me of Evan Chandler in an interview months later. 'I knew then and there that it was extortion. He said it right on the tape. So what I did then,' Michael told me, 'was turn it over to Bert [Fields] and [private investigator] Anthony [Pellicano] and I decided to try to forget about it.'

'Were you angry?' I asked Michael.

'No,' Michael told me. 'I knew I didn't do anything wrong, so why would I be angry?'

'Because you believed you hadn't done anything wrong, yet you were being accused of a horrible crime?' I offered.

'I don't think like that,' Michael said, bluntly. 'I don't live in fear.' In retrospect, it seems that Michael may have been feigning nonchalance with me, perhaps because I was in my reporter's role and he was saying what he felt was appropriate for an interview. Later, one of his closest advisers told me that he truly was angry when he heard the tape of Evan. 'He said, "After I've been good to him and his family, he says these terrible things about me? After I took his family around the world, after I bought them presents, after I let them into my life, allowed them into my home? Tell him Michael Jackson said he can go to h.e.l.l."' That was his reaction.

'I asked him if it was true, or not. Was something going on with him and Jordie? "Of course not," he said. "It's absolutely ludicrous, and it's not even the point. Tell Evan that Michael Jackson said go to h.e.l.l. That's That's the point."' the point."'

On 9 July 1993, June and Dave Schwartz met with Michael Jackson's investigator, Anthony Pellicano, in his Sunset Boulevard office to play for them the tape Dave had made of his conversation with Evan Chandler.

A tough, no-nonsense kind of personality, Anthony could be intimidating, always getting his way and representing his clients fiercely. Interestingly, he got his start in 1977 by finding the bones of Elizabeth Taylor's third husband, Mike Todd, under a pile of leaves. Todd's corpse had been stolen from an Illinois cemetery by mobsters looking for a ten-carat diamond ring, a gift from Elizabeth which they thought had been buried with the deceased.

Today, Anthony's career is in tatters. In November 2002, he was arrested following a probe into allegations that he had hired a man to threaten a Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times reporter researching a story about a Mafia extortion plot targeting actor Steven Seagal. reporter researching a story about a Mafia extortion plot targeting actor Steven Seagal.

Michael's attorney, Bertram (Bert) Fields, was also present. Fields is, today, still one of the most daunting and influential attorneys in show business with a client list that has included some of the biggest names in show business from The Beatles to Tom Cruise to John Travolta. He's never lost a trial in which he was lead attorney. He was determined to represent Michael in as aggressive a manner as possible, especially after he heard the audio tape June and Dave brought with them. 'I was concerned,' Bert recalled. 'It sounded bad. It sounded like extortion.'

The next day, Anthony Pellicano arranged a meeting with Jordie Chandler at Michael's hide-out in Los Angeles. He asked Michael, June and Dave to leave the room so that he and Jordie could be alone. His intention was to interrogate the youngster about his relationship with the pop star. 'I decided to be straight with the kid,' Anthony would later recall. 'This was serious business. There was no time to be delicate. I asked him, have you ever seen Michael Jackson naked? Has he ever seen you naked? Have you ever done anything s.e.xual with him? The kid looked me straight in the eye and said, "No. No. No." I believed him.' Anthony spoke to Jordie for more than an hour and, he says, was convinced that nothing inappropriate had ever occurred between him and Michael.

After that meeting, Bert Fields (working on behalf of June Chandler as well as Michael) and Barry Rothman (Evan's attorney) negotiated an agreement whereby Evan would have custody of Jordie for a week. Reluctantly, June agreed to the terms, not wanting to keep the boy from his father. Anthony Pellicano and Bert Fields gave personal guarantees that Jordie would be delivered as promised. Barry Rothman then gave his word that Evan would return the boy on schedule.

At the appointed time and place, Evan waited for his son to show up, but he never did. Instead, June decided to take Jordie and his sister, Lily, to Neverland to celebrate Lily's birthday with Michael Jackson.

While in the limousine on the way from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, Michael and company stopped at the beach house of financier Michael Milken, the so-called junk bond king who had just been released from prison after serving a couple of years for securities fraud. He was a friend of Michael's and the two had been in discussions to set up an educational cable TV network for children.

While at Michael Milken's, Michael Jackson telephoned Anthony Pellicano to tell him of the change in plans: they had decided not to allow Evan to have Jordie for the week. This decision put both Anthony and Bert Fields in difficult positions; they had given their word, and now they appeared to be liars. Anthony was furious; he let Michael have it. 'You're being ridiculous,' he recalled telling him, 'Now you get that kid back here, and you do it right now, Michael. You and Jordie apparently share a brain. So, use it use it. Do you hear what I'm saying?'

'Listen, you don't tell me what to do,' Michael shot back. 'I tell you you what to do, Anthony. Not the other way around. Do what to do, Anthony. Not the other way around. Do you you hear what hear what I'm I'm saying?' saying?'

As Michael's side of the telephone conversation became more heated, June became uncomfortable.

Michael continued. 'Evan gets to see Jordie when I...' He corrected himself. 'Evan gets to see Jordie when we we say so, not when he says so. And we don't say so. So that's the end of that. Got it?' Michael slammed down the telephone. He clenched his fists and made an angry face, so furious he seemed as if he was about to explode. 'Why does he treat me like I'm an idiot?' he asked no one in particular. 'I'm not an idiot. I'm Michael Jackson, say so, not when he says so. And we don't say so. So that's the end of that. Got it?' Michael slammed down the telephone. He clenched his fists and made an angry face, so furious he seemed as if he was about to explode. 'Why does he treat me like I'm an idiot?' he asked no one in particular. 'I'm not an idiot. I'm Michael Jackson, I'm Michael Jackson I'm Michael Jackson.' He kicked a wall. 'It's offensive and insulting, d.a.m.n it!'

June, Jordie and Lily looked at one another with surprised expressions. 'Gosh, Mommy, Michael's so mad,' Lily said, surprised.

After witnessing Michael's unexpected tantrum, June no longer wanted to go to Neverland with him, saying she wasn't in the mood. 'Whatever,' Michael told her, annoyed. 'Do what you want to do.'